


Pet Cuddles and Creative Problem Solving

by FaithWarrior



Series: The Bug in the Belfry [17]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Batfamily Pets (DCU), Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Gen, MariBat, Maribat Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Marinette was Batgirl, Strong Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27330478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaithWarrior/pseuds/FaithWarrior
Summary: For Maribat Bio!Dad Bruce Wayne Month 2020 Day17: Pets.Bruce was accustomed to many odd sights around his home. It's what happened when he had such a large number of children with their own eccentric behaviors. At this point he had learned that sometimes it was better to just not ask too many questions. Though there is a possibility that he might have been asking too few questions in certain areas.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Batfamily Members & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Bruce Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Damian Wayne
Series: The Bug in the Belfry [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905886
Comments: 2
Kudos: 354
Collections: Maribat Bio!Dad Bruce Wayne Month





	Pet Cuddles and Creative Problem Solving

**Author's Note:**

> AN: So I know it's been a while. Thank you all for being patient with me. I just started a new job which has been helping me overall even though it isn't in my field. Basically I’ve gotten a lot busier and updates may be inconsistent or infrequent based on inspiration and time. For now I hope you guys enjoy this fic and let me know what you think.

Bruce walked into one of the manors many living rooms to a rather unusual, if amusing, sight.

“I’m stuck.” She said.

“I can see that.” Bruce answered with an amused tone. “Damian, ask you to pet sit?” 

Marinette shrugged slightly from under her large captor and small warden. “He said he had to do a thing with Jon. Plus I’ve been craving some cuddle time.” She ran her hands over the soft fur of both animals. Titus was draped across her lap like a weighted blanket and Alfred the Cat was snuggled up over her shoulders like a scarf.

“Need anything while you’re immobilized?” Bruce offered his daughter.

She shrugged. “Could you hand me my water bottle?” She gestured to a metal water bottle just out of arm's reach. “I’d ask for my embroidery too, but Alfred keeps going after my threads. Not to mention it's for Uncle Jagged.”

Bruce nods in understanding as he retrieves the container. Jagged, or Jared as he remembers the man, has a significant allergy to cats and to a lesser extent dogs. “Probably a good plan.” He comments.

Marinette smiles as she takes a drink before tucking the bottle under her arm where she will be able to reach it. “It's nice to be home again. Kinda mad Dami gets to have pets and I don't, but what can you do about the health code?”

“Other than that…” He trails off.

“Paris is great. The Dupain Chengs are great, although much less chaotic than Gina.” Marinette grinned at his flinch. “Wimp. The big bad Batman is afraid of one bohemian biker and a pair of Parisian bakers.”

Bruce glared at her unsuccessfully as his daughter only giggled at his reaction. “Any new information on the situation in Paris.” 

Marinette waves him off. “So far it seems Ladybug and Chat Noir are keeping a good handle on the situation.” She continues to pet her charges. “Have you read the briefings I’ve been sending you?”

“Yes, although you haven't said much.” Bruce grumbles. 

Marinette raises a brow at him. “The heroes have it under control and have expressly forbade outside interference in case of an overpowered akuma. I went to Paris for my education.

“And to be normal.” He pitched in.

“If you don't trust my assessment of the heroes abilities then you can use the backdoor into the Ladyblog to watch the footage yourself.” Her haughty tone reminded Bruce that Marinette had also been raised in part by the League of Assassins, though to a different extent than Damian.

“Apologies Marinette.” Bruce said.

Marinette appeared to loosen up, something that happened much quicker in her than in her brother. “Not a problem dad.”

“I must be heading to the office now, but I’ll send Alfred to check on you in a little bit.” He said.

“Of course.” 

***

Hours later Bruce decides to pull up the blog his daughter mentioned out of curiosity. If Marinette felt that the heroes were capable then it was worth taking a look at their skills. 

He used the back door Marinette had created into the amateur Parisian blog to access footage of the fights. The first/oldest files were painful to watch. The heroes obviously were not given any training on their abilities. For that matter Chat Noir certainly had no battle training, though his movements displayed that he possibly had classical training in a sport such as fencing.

Ladybug was the obvious leader. A take charge individual who seemed to know her way around a crisis and was able to get a good handle on the odd circumstances. Something about the young heroines fighting poked at Bruce's memories.

As he progressed through the videos Bruce could see what Marinette was talking about. Within the first month the duo progressed to functioning as a team. Their abilities worked substantially better as the two grew in sync. Then the duo's fighting got better, or rather Chat Noirs did. In one fight Bruce watched the heroes perform a rather specific maneuver. The larger fighter grabs the arms of the smaller fighter and throws them up to grab onto some structure overhead with their legs and swing up. 

He went back through the videos and rewatched before moving forward. In the videos he found evidence of several more maneuvers equally familiar to him. Intimately familiar in some cases as he had been the one to create some of those very same maneuvers. Most of them he had performed numerous times during his years as a vigilante.

There were also some techniques Bruce recognized from the League of Assassins, though modified to be nonlethal. And after the addition of more heroes to the field Bruce saw the turtle hero Carapace perfectly execute a team maneuver Wonder Woman had used with her proteges in training after Ladybug yelled the familiar call of ‘Shield’ during her command of the battlefield.

Bruce wasn't sure if he was more angry, or more proud. Somehow his daughter had formed her own superhero team right under his nose. He probably should have done more than skim her reports over the previous months.

Obviously the magic angle meant there was more to the situation than he could see. Marinette had certainly been specific in directing him towards the videos. She would have known that the large number of maneuvers specific to their family and associates would have tipped him off.

Marinette Al Ghul Wayne was Ladybug, and somehow, for some reason, she had kept it secret from the world's greatest detective family for almost a year. Except Damian probably knew. Bruce was not stupid enough to underestimate the twins bond with each other.

***

Bruce found his daughter precisely where he left her hours before. Under a pile of her brother's beloved animals as they slept. Now however her arms were free from the animals and she occupied them with a tablet in one hand and a sketchbook in the other. She appeared to be on a video call showing someone one of the pages in her sketchbook.

Marinette looked up at his entrance. “Look over those preliminary designs I sent over and let me know what you think. I want to get the updates done pretty soon.” She closed the book. “I have to get going but I’ll talk to you soon Adrien.”

Bruce couldn't hear the reply from his distance but the general tone was cheerful, and vaguely familiar. After his daughter ended the call on her partner he debated how to begin.

Marinette made the decision for him. “You watched the fights.” She said, a comment, not a question.

“Yes.” He confirmed lowly. “I’m sure you know what I saw. A little bit of a roundabout way to tell me you're ready to hand off your cape.”

Marinette laughed. “It was necessary to circumvent some semantics.” She waved off. “And it's not like I’m hanging it up, more like trading it in. Plus it might be a good idea for Batgirl to make a few more appearances before officially being taken off the roster.” Marinette always had a better handle on the specifics of hiding one's secret identity than her brothers. Most of the girls did.

“What semantics?” He asked, straight to the point.

She smiled. “There were rules that prevented me from revealing anything outright, but they don't call you the world's greatest detective for nothing. I just had to make sure you watched the fights so you had the opportunity to recognize my fighting style.”

“And the use of our families team maneuvers.” He added.

“Ahh, you caught those.” Marinette smirked. “I’ve been working on training them since the beginning, but it's kicked up more recently.”

“I noticed. You’ve done a good job with them.” He sat down next to her. “That was your partner on the phone a minute ago?”

“Good ear.” She confirmed. “For now there's someone you should meet, though she is probably not very happy with me.”

“Who?”

“My kwami.” Marinette answered. “Tikki?” She called quietly.

Bruce would claim the sudden appearance of a floating bug like creature didn't surprise him, but that would be a lie.

“Hello, my name is Tikki and I’m the ladybug kwami.” The small creature introduced as she floated in front of him. “I’m not mad.” She told Marinette as Bruce processed. “I’m bound by the same rules as you. The way you circumvented the problem was extremely clever though Marinette.”

“I have to admit this is a new one for me.” Bruce commented. “Do the two of you mind giving me a briefing on the situation? I’d like to offer my help if possible.”

Marinette grinned at him. “Of course father. As long as we don't have to move.” She answered with a motion to the animals on her lap.

“I don't think that will be necessary.” He replied in amusement. It looked like it would be a longer evening than Bruce had anticipated.

**Author's Note:**

> AN 2: this will be continued with Day 18 which will Not be using the Reverse Robins prompt. I already picked a substitute and started the prompt but I will leave it somewhat a surprise for everyone. I hope no one is too disappointed by this. Reverse Robins is just one of those AU’s I haven’t really gotten into and it doesn't really speak to me as a reader or writer usually. Personal preference only, I like the bat boys the way they are considering they're plenty complicated on their own.


End file.
